Best Terrible Book Club Podcasts (2025)

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A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas Special Guest Emily - Episode 231 2:14:31

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13m ago2:14:31

2:14:31

The time has come. It was inevitable; at last, we submitted to the will of Terriblo, listeners, and fate to bring down the evil monarch and find our destined mate - I mean, bring you our review of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, popularly known by its acronym of ACOTAR. To ease us through this experience, I've brought my emotional sup…

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Cold War Santa with Sarah Archer 1:39:47

1h ago1:39:47

1:39:47

What happens when Santa trades his sleigh for a rocket ship?”? Christmas correspondent Sarah Archer tells Sarah about how the Cold War era affected the image of old Kris Kringle through the rampant consumerism and shiny new technology of a post-war economy. Digressions include Reagan’s girlypop diet, the Freudian aspects of the Nutcracker, and the …

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#174 - The Neuroscience of Feeling Seen, Ignored, or Left Out in Friendships (with Dr. Ben Rein) 36:57

4d ago36:57

36:57

I'm thrilled to welcome Dr. Ben Rein, neuroscientist and author of Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection. We discuss what friendship does to your brain and why loneliness is SO damaging over time. We cover why introverts still need connection (just in smaller “doses”), why ghosting and quiet quitting in friendships can land…

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#173 - What Makes a Friendship Last: Lessons from 40 Years (with Sunny & Jenn) 43:39

13d ago43:39

43:39

The Real Work Behind Lifelong Friendship This week I’m joined by two women who accidentally went viral on social media, but they've been doing the real work of close friendship for over four decades. I'm a BIG fan and begged them to let me examine their friendship on the show. Meet Jenn Sherman (who you might know from Peloton) and Pam “Sunny” Suns…

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The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry 1:12:25

15d ago1:12:25

1:12:25

Remember being a teen and coming up with “cool” ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th century was annoying their mom, England, with the hip words that were being edited and added to their lexicon. The antagonistic pair of nations on the brink of the Revolutionary War were always competing …

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#172 - What “Beaches” Gets Right About Friendship (with Professors Paul Eastwick & Eli Finkel) 48:52

21d ago48:52

48:52

You've arrived at the best academic nerd-out ever on the movie Beaches. Find out why CC Bloom and Hillary Whitney's instant friendship chemistry, breakups and makeups, and tear-jerker ending still wrecks us (in the best way). Is there something we can still learn in 2025 about making, keeping, and losing friends from this late 80s film? Absolutely.…

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#171 - Brighten a Friend’s Day with One Simple Gesture: November Friendship Challenge 15:04

7d ago15:04

15:04

This month’s friendship challenge is all about generosity, but not the kind that empties your wallet or the type that requires a special occasion like a birthday or holiday gift. Think thoughtfulness and the joy of letting friends know you're thinking of them for no reason whatsoever. It's generosity of time and spirit merely to show friends they m…

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Introducing: The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall 41:10

1M ago41:10

41:10

Listen now to the first episode of Sarah's new 8-part series with CBC Podcasts, The Devil You Know. In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — yet these thousands of alleged Satanists were nowhere to be found. In this all new s…

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The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas - Episode 230 1:43:44

29d ago1:43:44

1:43:44

Happy Halloween! This episode was supposed to air on 11/4, but we figured you'd all appreciate hearing this one a week early in the spirit of the season. The next episode will air on schedule on 11/18, so make sure you check out some older spooky season TBC episodes while you wait: The Hog from Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson *Sp…

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#170 - The Friend Who Really Sees You (with Hannah Rosenberg) 33:25

13d ago33:25

33:25

"This made me think of you." Is there anything more delightful to hear from a friend? These are the words often written between friends when someone shares one of Hannah Rosenberg's (always viral!) poems from Instagram. And the incredible Hannah Rosenberg is my guest on Dear Nina. I was so excited to meet the woman behind the words I've been sharin…

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Other Misfortunes (The Enchantment and You'll Find It's Like That All Over) by Eric LaRocca - Episode 229 1:13:18

1M ago1:13:18

1:13:18

For this year's Spooky Season, we headed over to reddit to see what r/horrorlit thought were the worst horror books they read in 2024. It seemed that Eric LaRocca's novella Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was widely hated by the sub, but since the Antiques Freaks already reviewed that back in October 2023, Paris chose to instead read t…

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#169 - Hosting a Salon: The Friendship Upgrade from Book Clubs (with Linda-Marie Barrett) 36:58

1M ago36:58

36:58

Want a social gathering for making new friends or deepening friendships that’s not a book club, not mahjong, not a cooking club, not pickleball—just high-level, soul-filling conversation? Enter "the salon." Linda-Marie Barrett, author of Creating a Salon: The Magic of Conversations that Matter, shows us exactly how to plan a modern salon: who to in…

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Midnight Ghost Shows with Chelsey Weber-Smith 1:43:58

2M ago1:43:58

1:43:58

What do you get when you combine a horror movie audience, a spiritualist séance, and a haunted house attraction? Beginning in the 1930s and lasting into the 1960s, midnight ghost shows were ghoulishly chaotic, wonderfully campy 4D theater performances that accompanied the scary movies of the era, beloved by a mostly-teenage audience who often becam…

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#168 - From Surface to Substance: A Journalist’s Guide to Deeper Friendships (with Jonah Kaplan) 33:41

2M ago33:41

33:41

Ever feel like your friendships are trapped in the very general "how are you?" catch-up loop? Award-winning journalist Jonah Kaplan joins me to talk about moving from small talk to something more substantive that feeds connection. Jonah has spent two decades covering difficult stories for CBS and WCCO, and he’s learned that the best conversations—o…

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From Fan To Family: Embracing Jason Momoa's World by Ligaya "Aying" Espina Cerny - Episode 228 1:23:48

2M ago1:23:48

1:23:48

Today's book was suggested to us by a fan on Instagram who said, "Your schedule is probably still full but I have the book to end all terrible books. [Redacted] wrote this about her love (obsession) for Jason Mamoa and it is a mess; it's absolutely terrible." This extremely personal book of poetry rotates around the axis of Jason Momoa and takes us…

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#167 - Ask Your Friends (A LOT) More Questions: The October Friendship Challenge 13:37

2M ago13:37

13:37

You're probably not asking your friends enough questions. This month’s Friendship Challenge is simple but powerful: ask your friends more questions. (Way more than you think you should.) Trust me, people notice when you're not asking questions. One of my most viral TikToks from last fall was when I talked about "the friend who never asks about you.…

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The Auralyn with Blair Braverman 1:11:24

2M ago1:11:24

1:11:24

Are you a survival pessimist or a survival optimist? Blair Braverman surprises Sarah with a harrowing, heartening, and sometimes hilarious tale of love and endurance in the face of certain death, but you’ll have to listen to find out the seemingly impossible circumstances our subjects had to overcome. Digressions include Sarah’s flight simulation s…

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#166 - Friendship Repair: How to Say I'm Sorry, Accept Apologies, and Ask for One (with Marjorie Ingall) 36:01

2M ago36:01

36:01

A good apology can save a friendship; a bad one can torch it. And yes, our friends will mess up. As will we! That's why learning to say "I'm sorry" (and why!), accept an apology, and even ask for a better apology if the one you got was "off" are all important skills in maintaining and deepening your friendships. In this episode of Dear Nina, I spok…

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After Dinner Conversation Magazine: Sample Issue - Episode 227 1:23:02

2M ago1:23:02

1:23:02

This week, Paris discusses her experience reading the sample issue of a magazine called After Dinner Conversation from the non-profit philosophy and ethics short fiction publisher of the same name. They DM'ed us on Twitter saying they wanted us to try their free sample issue, so we actually took them up on this offer because we've never reviewed a …

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#165 - The Child-Free Friend: Honest Talk About Friendship and Different Life Paths (with Dani Alpert) 28:54

2M ago28:54

28:54

Different choices, same friendships—if you’re willing to speak up. This week on Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship, I talk with bestselling author Dani Alpert, who has always known she didn’t want children. While her five best friends all married and had kids, Dani carved out a different life. The result? Decades of navigating friendships wh…

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#164 - Making Mom Friends: Challenges and Opportunities (with Alex Reed) 38:51

2M ago38:51

38:51

New parenthood can be isolating and full of unspoken (or spoken!) pressures. But those early years are not only about the challenges. There are opportunities too! For one, being at a drastically new stage of life is a common time for making friends who are going through similar experiences. I spoke to Alex Reed, a new-ish mom (at least compared to …

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Samantha Smith vs. the Cold War with Maris Kreizman 1:18:42

2M ago1:18:42

1:18:42

Who really ended the Cold War, Ronald Reagan or a ten-year-old girl? Eighties correspondent Maris Kreizman joins us for a heartfelt conversation about America’s Youngest Ambassador, Samantha Smith, a child who wrote a letter to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov in hopes of cooling nuclear tensions. Then, Andropov wrote back. Maris and Sarah di…

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#163 - Shame and Friendship: What We Hide, What We Share (with Melissa Petro) 28:19

3M ago28:19

28:19

What happens when we carry shame into our friendships? How does it keep us apart? How does it connect us deeply to others? I spoke with author Melissa Petro, whose book, SHAME ON YOU: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification, delves into the complex relationship between shame, identity, and connection. Together we explore how unacknowledged sh…

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I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki / Illustrated by Yoshi Yoshitani Patron's Choice - Episode 226 1:12:18

2M ago1:12:18

1:12:18

Our patron rootbeercutie recommended I Am Not Starfire and since we had somehow not done a graphic novel in the 10 years of this podcast, Chris stepped up to tackle this Teen Titans spinoff. Today's episode features a whole lot of superhero tropes and parent/child strife; even good art and a lesbian protagonist who gets a happy ending couldn't save…

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#162 - September Friendship Challenge: Listen to Your "Bestie Brain," Not Your "Bully Brain" (with Leslie Randolph) 33:12

3M ago33:12

33:12

This month’s Dear Nina Friendship Challenge taps into the fresh-start energy of September to help you quiet the inner bully telling you you're awkward or not desired and dial up your inner bestie. I'm joined by Leslie Randolph, certified coach and TEDx speaker, who helps adults, tweens, and teens cultivate self-confidence that sticks. Leslie and I …

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Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin - Episode 225 1:01:06

3M ago1:01:06

1:01:06

We haven't done any self-help lately, so Paris braved Oprah's Book Club list to pull the recently published Secrets of Adulthood straight from its maw. Though it attempted to take her, she fought her way out to bring you this episode about the science of happiness and the pop cultural grift which swirls around it. References & Resources: Dr. Robert…

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#161 - How Much Can You Expect Friends to Support Your Business, Book, or New Endeavor? (with Jackie Friedland) 32:59

3M ago32:59

32:59

What should we expect from friends when we launch a new business or creative project like a book or a new company? Bestselling author Jackie Friedland joins me to wrestle with the messy feelings of disappointment, obligation, vulnerability, and gratitude that come with asking friends for support. Jackie opens up about the rollercoaster of releasing…

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The Insanity Defense with Mackenzie Joy Brennan 1:20:40

3M ago1:20:40

1:20:40

What do John Hinckley Jr. and a jazz age tuberculosis patient have in common? Legal correspondent Mackenzie Joy Brennan takes Sarah through some of the strange cases that helped make—and break—the insanity defense in America. Our story includes a woman who carried her (alleged) victims’ bodies around in a suitcase, and the attempted assassination…

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# 160 - From the Cafeteria to the Mahj Table: Friend Group Challenges from Teens to Midlife and Beyond (LIVE!) 58:37

3M ago58:37

58:37

My dream for "Dear Nina" has always been to make people feel less alone in the messy parts of friendship. Episode #160 was our first-ever LIVE show with 120 people in the room—and wow, you could feel the energy, see the heads nodding, and appreciate the camaraderie of an audience who has experienced the highs and lows of friend groups. Friend group…

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TBC Plays DragonRaid by Dick Wulf Special Guests Phoebe & Kami - Episode 224 2:11:55

3M ago2:11:55

2:11:55

One dark day in the TBC Patreon chat dungeons, our Patron Austin scrawled the following message to us: "...[D]uring the 80s there was a guy literally named Dick Wulf (Not to be confused with law and order producer and writer Dick Wolf) who made a Christian version of D&D called Dragonraid. There's very little documentation online about what the gam…

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#159 - Teaching Kindness Without Forcing Friendships: A Parenting Dilemma (with Jessica Speer) 31:30

4M ago31:30

31:30

As parents, we all want our kids to be kind, inclusive, and compassionate. But what about when your child simply isn’t interested in a friendship? How do you balance kindness with their right to choose who they spend time with? This week, I revisit one of my earliest and most-loved conversations with award-winning author Jessica Speer, whose books …

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#158 - You Need an Older or Younger Friend: August Friendship Challenge (with Liz Alterman) 23:07

3M ago23:07

23:07

The August Friendship Challenge on Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship is all about mixed-age friendships, and I’m grateful to dive into the topic with author Liz Alterman. Her latest novel, Claire Casey’s Had Enough, includes a beautiful friendship between a 46-year-old and a 78-year-old woman, which gave me the perfect reason to talk about …

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Corn Mazes with Chelsey Weber-Smith 1:04:22

4M ago1:04:22

1:04:22

Can you find your way out of the maize? The corn maze has become an enduring attraction of the American autumnal experience, seen at touristy family farms next to pumpkin patches and haunted houses. But what are the historical roots of this iconic living puzzle? Sarah guides the eternally-lost Chelsey Weber-Smith through the twists and turns of the…

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Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff by Sean Penn Patron's Choice - Episode 223 1:13:46

4M ago1:13:46

1:13:46

Paris must conquer her fear and loathing to survive this gonzo, idiocratic adventure from the mind of Sean Penn (yes, the actor). Our Patron George submitted this as his Patron's request this season saying, "I've been listening to you guys for a long time and this is the first time I've ever found anything that you folks might be interested [in]. I…

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#157: When a Community Shows Up: Childhood Cancer, Friendship, and Lifelong Ripple Effects (with Amy Blumenfeld) 23:26

4M ago23:26

23:26

Amy Blumenfeld was in 8th grade when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. While the medical story is remarkable on its own (including Amy becoming the first adolescent with Hodgkin lymphoma to have an autologous bone marrow transplant at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC), what stayed with her deeply was how her community showed up for her family…

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#156 - Four Years In: The 4 Biggest Lessons I’ve Learned About Friendship (and 4 About Podcasting Too) 18:40

4M ago18:40

18:40

It’s the four-year anniversary of Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship! Whether you’ve been with me from the column that began in 2014, started with the first episode in 2021, stumbled in at episode 86, or you're new around here at #156—thank you. Thank you for caring about friendship on a deep level and for helping this podcast grow into some…

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Pee-wee Herman Part 2 with Jamie Loftus 1:03:47

5M ago1:03:47

1:03:47

In the second part of our series, pop culture historian Jamie Loftus takes us through the meteoric rise of Pee-wee Herman and the withering of Paul Reubens' world as dubious allegations surface that threaten to turn a beloved children’s character into a real life villain. Jamie tells us about his struggle to reconcile the character of Pee-wee with …

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Icebreaker by Hannah Grace Patron's Choice - Episode 222 1:30:09

4M ago1:30:09

1:30:09

In this second half of our accidental TBC of Ice & Fire recording session, Chris tackles a book left on his doorstep by a minion of Terriblo themselves with a note: "Dear Paris and Chris, I, the Dark God of horrid literature, appreciate your work in spreading the word of terrible books with your podcast. As such I've tasked one of my cultists, your…

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#155 - Thriving Solo: Making Friends and Creating Community After a Big Move (with Lisa Giordano) 28:39

5M ago28:39

28:39

After 31 years on the East Coast, Lisa Giordano decided (less than a year ago) to make a big move to Austin, Texas, with zero local contacts and a personal challenge to build a community and social life from scratch. In this upbeat conversation, Lisa tells us what really works (and what does not) when you’re starting over single in a brand-new city…

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#154 - Discretion vs. Gossip: How to Handle a Friend Who Overshares Your News (Letter Spotlight with Rebekah Jacobs) 28:31

5M ago28:31

28:31

Ever feel that low-level hum of annoyance when a friend casually drops your (good or bad) personal news into the conversation? I have my fantastic "Dear Nina" assistant producer, Rebekah Jacobs, with me this week to crack open a listener's anonymous letter about DISCRETION. Discretion is that gray zone between gossip and harmless chatter. Rebekah a…

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#153 - July Friendship Challenge: 3 Focused Questions for a Mid-Year Reflection 15:38

5M ago15:38

15:38

Ready to see where your friendships stand halfway through 2025? In this solo episode, I (very quickly!) round up the first six monthly challenges. Then I hand you three laser-focused questions to help you reflect, assess, tweak, and strengthen your connections for the rest of the year. Answer the 3 Questions This Week! Block 15 minutes. Jot down ho…